Behind The Music: Mario Talks About Helping His Mom Overcome Addiction

By Jawn Murray, BlackVoices.com

R&B star Mario was never the average teenybopper talent.

The Baltimore, Maryland-bred singer, who is signed to Clive Davis's J Records, hit the scene in 2002 when he was 15-years-old.

Though young in age, the singer (full name: Mario Dewar Barrett) always sounded more mature than the R&B types in his age group.

Now 21, the singer agrees that his experiences growing up in hard-knock Baltimore and the obstacles he's faced with his family, likely added to the depth we hear in his voice.

"I think that has a lot to do with it," he said, as we sat in booth towards the back of the Red Star Bar & Grill in Baltimore .

Those life experiences and inheriting his ability to sing from his father are the things Mario attributes with developing his "soul."

"Having soul is a gift from God. Having something that is distinctive and unique is definitely a gift. However, my father sang gospel, not sure if you knew that or not. His voice is amazing too. I think I also get a lot of it from him," he said.

The one-named singer, who released his junior CD, 'Go!' in Dec. 2007, has endeared fans by opening up about his mother, Shawntia Hardaway's substance abuse addition.

Mario performing on MTV's 'TRL' Captured in a reality TV special for MTV called, 'I Won't Love You to Death: The Story of Mario and His Mom,' the show gives a firsthand look at the 'Let Me Love You' singer attempting to help his mother get clean.

During our afternoon interview, I asked Mario was it difficult for him to be so forthcoming with such a private aspect of his family life.

"It was hard, man. It was real hard," he shared. "It's hard talking about it right now to you. But it was something that I faced everyday. It was affecting the way I did shows. It was affecting everything. I was becoming bitter. I couldn't work right. I had to deal with people doing interviews with me and asking about my mother. There were some assumptions made about my mother that were totally wrong. And that's why I did this show."

Mario soon discovered that his openness was inspiring and encouraging others.

See this clip of Mario's MTV special here:

"So many people went through the same thing. So many families in this country have gone through this every single day. I'm not ashamed at all for what I've gone through. It's made me even stronger. To know that my mom is stronger and she's better, it's made a positive change," he continued.

The star of 'Freedom Writers' and 'Step Up' said the show accomplished its goal of getting his mother help and she's maintained her sobriety since completing her stint in rehab last spring.

Mario and his mom on the red carpet at The Grammy's "It's been good since then," he smiled. "All I really wanted was to just have my mother back, but that's all any loved one really wants. You know at the end of the day, you just want to have that loved one back. It feels good to have that."

His mother is now writing a book about her life and Mario hopes it also helps to encourage people to overcome addiction.

One loved one that Mario misses is his grandmother, Alternease Hardaway. She helped raise the singer and he credits his passion for the entertainment business to her.

"At one point I became closer to my grandmother than I was with my mother. She took me to church every Sunday. I started singing in church," he recalled. "My grandmother was one of those types of people who didn't want to say, 'No.' She wanted to help the world. I remember one time we were coming back from a dinner. We stopped at the market and it was raining. There was this homeless woman standing outside. She didn't look homeless or anything, but she had a bag over her head. My grandmother was just sitting there. I was like, 'Grandma, what you doing, let's go home.' She was like, 'I just can't leave this lady out here like that.' So she picked this lady up, put her in the car, drove her back to our house and let her stay the night. She cooked breakfast in the morning and everything. Took her to the shelter the next day. That's the kind of lady she was. She taught me loyalty, discipline and to fear God. And even though I went to church, I didn't start to get that message until I got older."

Though his grandmother passed before Mario landed his big break, she is his constant inspiration to press towards greatness. "A lot of my drive is part of what I promised her," he shared.

Mario and his mother during MTV special

The charismatic crooner's current CD features a song called 'Do Right.' The song, which he recently performed while appearing on 'The Tyra Banks Show' with his mother, is an autobiographical record about some of his life challenges.

"It's the most introspective record I've ever done. It's very inspirational. I've never done a record that talked about my personal life and my personal feelings toward my friends who weren't able to be successful and to do the things they wanted to do in life. Whether it was school or music or basketball or being a doctor, whatever it was. They were caught up in some street stuff and that type of thing. I was once caught up in it too. That song comes from a deep place and people connect with that. My fans definitely connect with that," he explained.

Sharing his personal story in his music reminds Mario of one of his music idols, Marvin Gaye.

"Coming up, I've been through a lot. I've been able to overcome a lot of it. And I'm going share it. At the end of the day, when it's all said and done, people got to feel you. When Marvin Gaye first started, he was singing the teenybopper stuff and he was singing the commercialized music. But he got to a point in his life where's he had a change of heart. Once he started seeing what the music industry was about and how he could fulfill his full desire...that's where I am at. You want to do music that people can really relate to," the singer conveyed.

And whether it's his music, the television project or just his life in general, Mario aims to inspire by offering up the realities of who he is.

"I wanted people to see a real side of me. A real side of a mother who was going through something that's so real and who's going to overcome it. I just wanted to let people know who were going through the same thing that you can make it through this. If I can make it through this, you can to," he concluded.

*** UPDATE: The BV Buzz has learned tonight that Mario will join eleven other stars to compete on the seventh season of ABC's 'Dancing with the Stars.'

The R&B star joins actress Shannon Elizabeth ('Cuts'), Las Vegas headliner Penn Jillette (Penn & Teller), Priscilla Presley ('Dallas'), Tennis champ Monica Seles, Latin star Cristian De La Fuente, actor Steve Guttenberg ('Police Academy'), radio personality Adam Carolla, Oscar winner Marlee Matlin, NFL star Jason Taylor (Miami Dolphins), Broadway star Marissa Jaret Winokur and Olympic Gold medalist and World Champion, Kristi Yamaguchi in the famous ballroom.